Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockport

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people make good progress in all areas of their development because staff provide good-quality care.  A committed and supportive staff team care for young people.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people receive personalised care and support from staff, and benefit from having individual care plans and risk assessments.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff strive to develop nurturing relationships with each young person.  Staff are alert to the signs and symptoms that might indicate that a young person is at risk of harm.  Staff ensure that young people’s views remain central to their care.  The manager ensures that staff support young people’s learning and work in partnership with education providers to promote their educational achievement.  The manager ensures that the healthcare needs of young people are recognised and that services are accessed to address them.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The manager ensures that young people access a range of activities and experiences. As a result, young people grow in confidence and have improved self-esteem.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff promote family contact so that young people stay in touch with people who are important in their lives.  The manager ensures that there are good working relationships with partner agencies to promote collaborative working.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 There are two shortfalls in practice. One member of staff has not obtained the level 3 qualification in residential childcare within the required timescale. Outstanding repairs compromise securing a homely environment.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained— (a) the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England); or (b) a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma. The relevant date is— (a) is the case of an individual who starts working in the care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls two years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in the home; or (b) in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) 11/05/2017

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Recommendation

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Ensure that the children's home is nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of the children, this will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children's homes must comply with the relevant health and safety legislations. However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather that 'institutional' impression. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Information about this children's home

The home is one of a group of homes operated by a large independent organisation. This home provides care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 30/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/07/2015 Full Good 10/03/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness 17/12/2014 Full Good

p.5

Good

Young people receive good individualised care. Staff take time to build solid and trusting relationships with young people. A previous resident wrote in a letter to his keyworker. ‘Apart from being my keyworker you were more like my older brother: You were there for me man when few people were’.

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Good

Skills and relationships are carefully considered when matching staff to a young person. This provides young people with the best opportunity to engage and benefit from therapeutic support.

p.6

Good

Young people make good progress because staff provide good-quality care. The manager ensures that all young people have individualised, detailed care plans that relate to their needs. Staff implement these plans effectively, with regular updates and reviews to reflect young people's changing needs and progress. This means that staff are consistent in their care and young people receive appropriate support.

p.6

Good

All young people are activity engaged in full-time education. The staff have worked collaboratively with educational providers and placing authorities to create tailor- made educational packages that enable young people to achieve their educational potential.

p.6

Good

Young people make progress in relation to their physical, emotional and social well- being. The manager ensures that young people are registered with doctors, dentists and opticians. They attend their routine health appointments with good support and encouragement from staff. Young people's medication is stored and administered safely by trained and competent staff.

p.6

Good

The manager ensures that all young people are supported to maintain contact with parents. Staff support contact effectively by ensuring that transport is available and that any restrictions to contact are known. This means that young people remain close to individuals who are important to them and benefit from being involved in a wider support network outside of the home.

p.6

Good

Young people are consistently listened to through different forums. Key working meetings are used well to discuss ongoing issues, which young people are experiencing. Young people feel confident to identify issues and make suggestions about issues that are important to them. The manager has a good overview of these meetings and responds to each request being made. Staff recognise the importance of encouraging a range of activities to help develop young people’s emotional well-being and self-esteem. For example, some young people enjoy community-based activities such as attending youth groups, and going to the cinema. These daily experiences help young people to develop a sense of self-worth and to have a positive connection with their community.

p.6

Good

Young people make good progress in developing independence skills, which are appropriate to their age and understanding. They are learning the skills that they need to be independent adults. For example, young people are able to do their own laundry and travel independently.

p.7

Good

Staff have a commitment to ensuring that the home is well maintained. However, staff are frustrated that repairs are not routinely completed in a timely manner. Outstanding repairs detract from the overall homely environment. Judgement grade

p.7

Good

Young people are safe in the home. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding practice and the ways in which they can protect the welfare of young people. The manager and staff liaise well with the local authority and the police to share risk management strategies and other relevant information about young people. This promotes good partnership working, which supports the safety of young people and others in the community.

p.8

Good

Young people receive good-quality help and protection from the manager and staff. Each young person’s individual risks and vulnerabilities are well understood. For example, in cases where young people self-harm, staff are aware of the patterns of behaviour for each young person. This aids them in identifying times of potential crises for the young person and the opportunity to put in preventative measures to enhance young people’s safety. Staff are clear about the use of the internet and monitor this closely. Young people are well supported to learn how to keep themselves safe, both in the community and online. Young people’s complex needs mean that they can at times display extremely difficult and challenging behaviour. Staff have a good understanding of these behaviours and know what action to take to address them. This ensures that young people, including the most vulnerable, benefit from effective support and

p.8

Good

Teaching young people to be accountable for their own behaviour is central to the ethos of the home. The use of negative sanctions is low because staff deploy a strength-based approach to supporting young people to take responsibility for their behaviour. Emphasis is placed on verbal de-escalation. Staff receive training in the appropriate use of physical restraint but only ever use this as a last resort. On occasions when restraint is necessary to prevent serious harm, there is careful debrief and analysis of each incident. Records made by staff when a physical intervention has occurred receive management oversight, and young people have the opportunity to talk about the restraint with someone away from the home. This is helping to ensure that the use of restraint is proportionate and that staff and young people are receiving opportunities to reflect on incidents. Staff understand the risks to young people of child sexual exploitation. Staff have

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Good

engaged with training to raise their individual knowledge base. Staff proactively monitor all young people at the home. This means that young people are safe. There have been a number of reported incidents of young people going missing from the home since the last inspection. The staff have clear procedures in place to notify the relevant bodies in the event of a ‘missing’ episode. Visits from the local police community support officer, helps to enhance the safeguarding culture at the home. Return from care interviews are consistently available to young people. This integrated approach to protecting young people means that young people become increasingly safe.

p.8

Good

The manager ensures that the home stays a safe environment for young people to live in. The manager fully implements the home’s recruitment policy and practices. This helps to prevent unsuitable adults from working with young people. The manager ensures that staff undertake regular health and safety checks and follow a range of safety procedures to protect young people from potential hazards. These include fire drills, to ensure that young people know what to do in case of an emergency. Judgement grade

p.9

Good

The home has an appropriately qualified interim manager in place. The manager has been in post since August 2016 and holds a level 5 national vocational qualification in leadership, health and social care. A permanent manager has been recently recruited, they are due to join the home in December 2016.

p.10

Good

A committed staff team continue to support the young people. Two staff members hold the necessary level 3 diploma in residential childcare. The vast majority of staff members are currently enrolled on this course. However, one member of staff has not managed to complete their qualification within the required timeline.

p.10

Good

Staff report that they receive good support and guidance from the manager. They receive regular supervision that supports and challenges their performance to improve. Effective team meetings ensure that good communication and consistency of practice across the staff group is secured. Mutually supportive and respectful relationships exist across the staff group. These demonstrate positive role models and consistency for the young people.

p.10

Good

The manager understands young people’s individual needs, and ensures that staff have the skills and knowledge to meet them. Staff feel valued and supported by the manager and each other. They feel listened to, and that their views are valued. This helps the staff to remain motivated in their care of young people.

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Good

Young people receive support as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. This provides clear information about the level of service provided, plus clear information for stakeholders about the aims and objectives and facilities offered. The children’s guide is in an accessible format. This means that young people are clear about the services that the home provides.

p.10

Good

The manager ensures that an independent person visits the home every month to monitor and report on the quality of care provided. Monitoring reports provide a review of the home’s practice relating to the quality of young people’s care and identify areas for improvement. Regular consultations with young people, parents and other professionals also help to influence the progress of the home.

p.10

Good

The manager is aware of the strengths and areas of development for the service. Staff are enthusiastic and committed to ensuring that the service continues to evolve and develop for the benefit of the young people in their care.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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